We are told of the occasional occurrence of hermaphrodite bees, half workers and half drones, and the explanation of their existence is given by Von Berlepsch as an incomplete penetration of the shell of the egg, in the act of fertilising, by the spermatozoa. Yet another order of individuals has been supposed to exist by some, and they have termed them "black bees,"[14] also "drone mothers;" they are not, however, the veritable "fertile workers" named above, but owe their distinction solely to misconception. They are blacker than the rest, and often with fewer and shorter hairs: but the above author, after ascertaining from Leuckart that there was no anatomical difference, proved by experiments that their colour was caused simply by smearing with honey, or else was the effect of stifling or of fright, and that the loss of hairs was owing to nothing more than having crept repeatedly through confined entrance-holes! Similarly Dzierzon: "The black colour is one purely accidental, produced through heating, rubbing against sides, biting, smearing, licking, and the like. As a rule, the glossy black bees are robbers which have been pursuing their trade for some considerable time."
[14] This term is also sometimes applied to English bees generally in distinction from the Italians.
§ XI. THE RATIONALE OF SWARMING.
Under this heading we purpose to describe such matters as belong chiefly to the natural history of the bee, thus reserving for its proper position at the beginning of our fifth chapter all which strictly belongs to the subject of "Manipulation," and which it is to the convenience of the inexperienced bee-keeper to find brief and ready to his hand at any moment of emergency. A leisurely digesting of the interesting facts stated in the present section will, however, greatly assist him in the intelligent following of his pursuit.
In May, when the preceding part of the spring has been fine, the queen bee is very active in the deposition of eggs, and the increase in a strong healthy hive is so prodigious that emigration is necessary, or work would soon cease. The bees, on arriving at a conviction of this fact, commence preparations by the building of royal cells, thus putting matters straight for the after government and progress of the hive. The queen, nolens volens, falls in with the general resolution, and makes off with the swarm on the first pleasant day after one of these cells has been sealed over, that is to say, some six or seven days before her first rival is likely to emerge. If delayed by the weather till within two days of the hatching of this, the bees usually destroy all the princesses, and either start fresh cells or give up swarming altogether for the season. It is now a well-established fact that the old queen goes forth with the first swarm, and thus the sovereignty of the old hive devolves upon a young queen. Dzierzon, however, once met with a case in which the old queen refused to stir, and three strong swarms were led forth by young princesses in the course of five days. By the bye, it should be added that swarms are never "led" forth except by young queens, in the sense of having these at their head; fruitful mothers usually follow in the midst.
As soon as the swarm builds combs in its new abode, the emigrant queen begins laying eggs in the cells, and thereby speedily multiplies the labourers of the new colony. Although there is now amongst apiarians no doubt that the old queen quits her home, there is no rule as to the composition of the swarm: old and young alike depart. Some show unmistakable signs of age by their ragged wings, others their extreme youth by their lighter colour. We do not, however, use the term "young" in reference to those youngest inhabitants of the hive whose engagements are solely within doors, for these cannot go till their proper time for flying has arrived. Von Berlepsch says that all the adult bees which are at home at the time of starting go with the swarm; and sometimes this results in none but the brood bees being left—or only one-fourth of the population. In preparation for flight, bees commence filling their honey-bags, taking sufficient, it is said, for three days' sustenance. This store is needful, not only for food, but to enable them to commence the secretion of wax and the building of combs in their new domicile.
On the day of emigration the weather must be fine, warm, and clear, with but little wind stirring; for the old queen, like a prudent matron, will not venture out unless the day is in every way favourable. Whilst her majesty hesitates, either for the reasons we have mentioned or because the internal arrangements are not sufficiently matured, the bees will often fly about or hang in clusters at the entrance of the hive for two or three days and nights together, all labour meanwhile being apparently suspended. When this cluster is formed in the morning hours, and grows constantly larger in spite of the sun, it may be taken as the sign of a very speedy start. The busy flitting of other bees around this cluster, or their sporting in numbers before the hive, are also reliable signs, and some have included the appearance of drones at ten in the morning. At the last, when the time is quite fixed, the bees in the cluster suddenly return to the hive to fill themselves with honey for the flight. The agitation of the little folk is well described by Evans:—
"See where, with hurried step, the impassioned throng
Pace o'er the hive, and seem, with plaintive song,
To invite their loitering queen; now range the floor,